
aass_ C___3 "tiiX- 



MEM I K 



JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 



By GEORGE S. HILLARD. 



iifptiutcb from tbt "^rocfcbings of tl^e |?lussutb«setl8 ^jtstoritul Sotitlu, 
For 1867-1868. 



r> O S T O N : 

PRESS OF JOHN \VTI.SON AND SON. 
1868. 



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MEMOIR 






JOSEPH STOEY, LL.D. 



By GEOKGE S. HILLARD. 



gcjj.riutcb from Ihc ^rocccbings of \\t glassiubuscJls Jjislorkal Societn, 
For 1867-1868. 



BOSTON: 

PRESS OF JOHN WILSON AND SON. 
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MEMOIR 



JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 



Joseph Story was born in Marblehead, on the eigbteentli 
day of September, 1779. He was tbe eldest child of a second 
marriage. His father, Dr. Elislia Story, had served as a sur- 
geon in the army of the Revolution, and afterwards engaged 
in the practice of medicine in Marblehead, with distinguished 
success, till his death in 1805. His second wife, the mother 
of Judge Story, was Mehitable Pedrick, the daughter of an 
opulent merchant of Marblehead. She Avas married at the 
age of nineteen, and lived to an advanced age, surviving by 
a few years her eminent son. She was a woman of sense 
and energy, with an active mind and a cheerful spirit. Left, 
at the death of her husband, with a numerous family and a 
very moderate income, she showed an admirable tact and 
method in the conduct of her household, and the education of 
her children. 

Young Story was prepared for college in his native town, 
and entered the Freshman Class in Harvard College, in Jan- 
uary, 1795, about half a year in advance. His college life 
was in all respects honorable to him. His studies embraced 
not merely the prescribed course of the college, but ranged 
over a wide field of English literature. Among his class- 



4 MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

mates were Dr. Tuckerman and Dr. Channing. With the 
latter he contended for the highest honors of his class, but 
always acquiesced in the decision which gave the first place 
to his friend. He left college, not only unstained by vice, 
but with a singular purity of life and conversation. 

The profession of the law had been his early and only 
choice, and he entered upon the study of it immediately after 
leaving college, first at Marblehead, in the office of Chief- 
Justice Sewall, and afterwards at Salem, in that of Judge 
Putnam. His love of literature, and especially poetry, and 
his enthusiastic temperament, made the study of the law at 
first distasteful to him ; and he has left it on record that he 
more than once wept over the crabbed pages of " Coke upon 
Littleton," from inability to comprehend the meaning of the 
rugged commentator. But these difficulties soon vanished 
before his resolute industry, and in his three years of prep- 
aration he laid a strong and sure foundation of knowledge, on 
which to build in after years. The interest with which he 
always pursued his researches into the most abstruse and 
least attractive departments of the law would seem to justify 
the remark which has often been made, that the best lawyers 
are those who at first have a natural distaste to the study. 

While a student of law, he delivered, at the request of the 
people of Marblehead, a eulogy on Washington, which was 
printed, and received with favor, though written in a style 
which the author's mature taste condemned as bombastic and 
extravagant. 

He was admitted to the bar in 1801, and immediately began 
the practice of tlie law in Salem. His industry, the fitlelity 
with which he served his clients, and his frank and engaging 
manners soon secured him a fair and steadily increasing 
amount of business, thongh he labored under the disadvan- 
tage of having espoused the uiqiopular side in politics. 
He was a Democrat; while the wealth, cultivation, and 
social inlluence of Salem, and indeed of all Massachusetts, 



MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 5 

were with the Federal party. Party poh"tics then ran very 
higli, and the recent election of Jefferson had added 
bitterness to the strife ; and the unpopular opinions of the 
young lawyer exposed him to some social mortifications and 
neglects to which he did not pretend to be insensible. But, 
though sensitive and sympathetic, he was not weak or mor- 
bid ; and a singularly buoyant and cheerful spirit enabled him 
to bear lightly M'hat might have crushed a melancholy 
temperament. His early politics wore explained and justi- 
fied by himself in later life, when he said, '' I like as much 
to see a young man democratic, as an old man conservative. 
When we are old, we are cautious and slow of change, if we 
have benefited by experience : when we are young, we 
hope too much, if we are generous and pure." 

During the year 1803, the post of naval officer of the port 
of Salem was offered to him, but declined on the ground 
that its duties would interfere with his professional pros- 
pects. In 1804, he delivered a Fourth-of-July oration before 
the citizens of Salem, written in the declamatory style which 
the popular taste then approved. In the same year, he pub- 
lished a volume of poems, containing an improved edition of 
" The Power of Solitude," which had originally appeared in 
1802, and several fugitive pieces. " The Power of Solitude " 
is a didactic poem, in two parts, in heroic verse, written at a 
time when Zimmerman was read and admired. His son, Mr. 
William W. Story, who has won such honors in art and liter- 
ature, sa^'^s of this production, with commendable fairness, 
" The defects of his poem are exaggeration of feeling, confu- 
sion of imagery, and a want of simplicity of expression. The 
style is stilted and artificial. But, though dull as a poem, it 
shows facility and talent for versification, breathes a warm 
aspiration for virtue and truth, and is creditable to his 
scholarship." 

During the same year, he prepared for the press and pub- 
lished a '' Selection of Pleadings in Civil Actions," a useful 



C MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

and accurate manual, and for a long time, during the reign 
of special pleading, almost the only book of forms used in 
this country. On the ninth day of December, Mr. Story was 
married to Miss Mary Lynde Oliver, a young lady to whom 
he had been long and tenderly attached ; but his domestic 
happiness was destined to be of brief duration, for his wife's 
health began to decline soon after their marriage, and she 
died on the 22d of June, 1805, to the inexpressible grief of 
her husband. Iler person and manners were pleasing, her 
mind was cultivated, and her disposition amiable and gentle. 
Iler image was always recalled by her husband with affec- 
tionate tenderness. Two of the smaller pieces in his printed 
volume of poems were by her. 

In 1805, he was chosen a member of the Legislature of 
Massachusetts, to represent the town of Salem, and was 
annually re-elected till his appointment to the bench. lie 
soon came to be recognized as the leader of his party in the 
House, and was often obliged to contest, almost single-handed, 
against the powerful array of ability and influence which 
supported the Federal cause. In these contests he bore him- 
self with a courage and eloquence which extorted hearty 
praise from the more generous of his opponents. He was an 
ardent, but not a bitter or an unscrupulous, partisan. 

On one occasion he showed a manly and honorable indepen- 
dence of party ties. In 1806, a vacancy occurred in the 
office of Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Massachu- 
setts, and it was felt highly desirable to secure for the place 
the unrivalled legal abilities of Mr. Theophilus Parsons, then 
in large practice in Boston. It was understood that he would 
accept the oflice, if the salary were made honorable and per- 
manent, it being then neither the one nor the other. Mr. 
Parsons was obnoxious to the Democrats, who at that time 
were in power in Massachusetts, because he was an uncom- 
promising Federalist, whose great powers had been often 
exerted on behalf of iiis party. But Mr. Story put aside all 



MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 7 

political prepossessions, and carried successfully througli the 
Ilouse, in spite of the opposition of his own party, a bill 
which increased the salaries of the judges and made them 
permanent. 

Nor was this all. Mr. Parsons accepted the office, but, 
after holding it three years, he sent for Mr. Story, and frankly 
told him that his salary was insufficient for the support of his 
family, and that he must resign his office unless it were in- 
creased. The Democratic party then had a majority in both 
branches of the legislature. A bill further enlarging the sala- 
ries of the judges, drawn by Mr. Story, was reported, and, 
through his personal influence, carried through both branches 
of the legislature. He was for a long time denounced by 
some of the journals of his own party for the part he took in 
these measures. 

In January, 1806, he drew up an able memorial from the 
inhabitants of Salem to the President and Congress, on the 
infringement of the neutral trade' of this country by Great 
Britain. 

In the winter session of 1808, he made an elaborate report 
in favor of the creation of a court of chancery for the State 
of Massachusetts, and accompanied it by a corresponding 
bill ; but the proposed measure was not successful. 

In the month of August, 1808, he was married to Miss Sarah 
Waldo Wetmore, a lady with whom he lived in great happi- 
ness until his death. 

In the autumn of 1808, he was elected a member of Con- 
gress, to supply the vacancy caused by the death of the Hon. 
Jacob Crowninshield. He served only for the remainder of 
the term for which he was chosen, and declined a re-election ; 
his hopes and aspirations being professional, and not political. 
While in Congress, he manifested his usual independence by 
giving his support to propositions to increase the navy and 
to repeal the embargo ; in both cases acting against the party 
to which he belonged. Mr. Jefferson was displeased at his 



8 MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

course, and in one of liis letters calls him a " pseudo-repub- 
lican." 

In 1809, engrossed as he was with business and politics, 
he found time to edit a new edition of *' Chitty on Bills of 
Exchange and Promissory Notes " ; appending to it a large 
body of valuable annotations. In 1810, he prepared an edi- 
tion of "Abbott on Shipping," and, in 1811, an edition of 
'* Lawes on Assumpsit " ; to both works adding copious 
notes. 

In January, 1811, he was chosen Speaker of the House of 
Representatives of Massachusetts, in the place of the Hon. 
Perez Morton, appointed xVttorney-General of the State ; and, 
on the organization of the new House, in the succeeding 
May, he was re-elected to the same station. During the short 
time that he held this oflice, ho presided over the delibera- 
tions of a crowded and somewhat stormy body, to the satis- 
faction of all the members. 

In 1810, the seat of Associate Justice of the Supreme 
Court of the United States became vacant, by the death of 
Mr. Justice Gushing. The place was first offered by Presi- 
dent Madison to the Hon. Levi Lincoln, who declined it ; and 
then to the Hon. John Quincy Adams, at that time in Russia, 
by whom it was also declined. In the month of November, 
1811, the appointment was, very much to his surprise, offered 
to Mr. Story, and, after some reflection, accepted. The annual 
salary of a judge of the supreme court was then only thirty- 
five hundred dollars, and as his professional income at that 
time was nearly double in amount, he made no slight pecu- 
niary sacrifice in leaving the bar; but he was induced to 
accept the oflice mainly because of the opportunity it afforded 
him to i)ursue those juridical studies which were most con- 
genial to his tastes. 

Mr. Story, when he went upon the bench, was only thirty- 
two years old, a very early, and, with the exception of Mr. 
Justice Bnller, an unprecedented, ago for a lawyer to be 



MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 9 

advanced to a seat upon the liigliest judicial tribunal of liis 
country. When we call to mind liis youth, and remember 
how earnest and conspicuous he had been on the unpopular 
side in politics, it will not be a matter of surprise to learn 
that the news of his appointment fell with something like 
consternation upon the elder, the more apprehensive, and the 
more conservative portion of the people of New England. His 
merits as a lawyer could be scanned only by his professional 
brethren : his sweet and generous nature could be appre- 
ciated only by his friends. The pul)]ic know him as an enthu- 
siastic partisan; and it is not too much to say that with 
many there was an apprehension that, in his hands, rights and 
property would hardly be safe. It is hardly necessary to add, 
that the existence of such fears was a striking proof of the 
truth of Mr. Jefferson's saying. " How much we suffer from 
misfortunes that never happen ! " From the moment he 
assumed his judicial office, he shook the dust of politics from 
his feet; and he bore himself with such absolute impartiality, 
that it is literally true that there was no act of his judicial 
life from which it could have been known to which of the two 
great parties which divided the country he had previously 
belonged. 

From 1811 till 1829, when he removed to Cambridge, the 
life of Judge Story flowed on in a uniform and uneventful 
current. About three months of every year were spent with 
the Supreme Court in Washington, and several weeks were 
devoted to the judicial duties of his circuit, embracing Maine, 
New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island. His life 
was useful, laborious, and happy. His duties were eminently 
congenial to his taste and the nature of his mind. His legal 
studies were pursued with an appetite that grew with what 
it fed upon. His hopes and aspirations were all confined to 
the sphere of the bench, and he never cast a lingering look 
back upon the political field he had left. His warm domestic 
and social tastes found satisfaction in a happy home, and in a 

2 



10 MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

largo circle of relatives and friends, by wbom he was regarded 
with equal pride and affection. A busier or a happier man 
it would not have been easy to find. His lot was not ex- 
empt from those trials by which the soul of man is tried and 
ripened. Of seven children who were born to him, four were 
taken away by death during these years ; and liis letters show 
how acutely he felt these losses, and with Avhat Christian 
resignation he bore them. 

During this period. Judge Story's judicial labors, great as 
they were, did not absorb all his time or energies. His mis- 
cellaneous occupations and occasional productions would alone 
have been enough to save him from the reproach of being an 
idle man. On the 23d of August, 1813, ho delivered a eulogy 
at Salem, on the occasion of the re-interment of the bodies of 
Captain James Lawrence and Lieutenant Augustus C. Lud- 
low, who were killed on the 18th of June of the same year, 
in the engagement of the Chesapeake with the Shannon. 
Their remains were at first buried at Halifax, whence they 
were removed to Salem. Though hurriedly prepared, and 
under the depression of illness, it was well received by the 
public. The elaborate memorial of the merchants of Salem 
against the tariff, in 1820, was drawn up by him. In 1821, 
he delivered an address before the members of the Suffolk 
bar, which was published in the "American Jurist" in 1829, 
and republished in England, in Clark's " Cabinet Library of 
Scarce and Celebrated Tracts." 

Li 182G, ho pronounced the annual discourse before the 
rhi-Beta-Kappa Society of Harvard College ; a performance 
marked by a flowing ease of style, and showing a wide range 
of literary cultivation. In 1828, he delivered the centennial 
address in conmienioration of the two-hundredth anniversary 
of the first settlement of the town of Salem, — a beautiful 
discourse, perhaps the finest and most finished of all his occa- 
sional productions, abounding with passages of a rich and 
animated eloquence ; among which may be especially enumer- 



MEMOIR OP JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 11 

ated the closing paragraplis, and the pathetic reflections on 
the fate of the Indians. He also wrote biographical sketches 
of Samuel Dexter, Mr. Justice Trimble, Mr. Justice Washing- 
ton, Chief-Justice Parker, William Pinkney, and Thomas Addis 
Emmett. He contributed to the " North-American Review " 
articles on Hoffman's '^ Course of Legal Study," on Jacobsen's 
" Laws of the Sea," on " Johnson's Reports," on " Phillips on 
Lisurance," and on Dane's " Abridgment of American Law." 
These were not merely literary notices of the several works 
reviewed, but elaborate essays on the subjects discussed in 
them ; marked by the same thorough research and exhaustive 
learning which distinguish the writer's judicial opinions. 

In the " Encyclopaedia Americana," the titles. Congress, 
Contract, Courts of the United States, Criminal Law, Capital 
Punishment, Domicile, Equity, Jury, Lien, Law Legislation 
and Codes, Natural Law, National Law, Prize, and Usury, 
were furnished by him. The elaborate notes in " Wheaton's 
Reports," on the Principles and Practice in Prize Courts, on 
Patent Laws, on Charitable Bequests, on Piracies, and on the 
Admiralty Jurisdiction, as well as on several others of less 
importance, occupying no less than one hundred and eighty- 
four closely printed pages, were written by Judge Story. 
The following entry in one of his memorandum books is 
worthy of being here copied, as illustrating the beautiful 
disinterestedness of his nature, and his readiness to serve 
his friends : — 

"June 12, 1819. It is not my desire ever to be known as the 
author of any of the notes in Mr. Wheaton's ' Reports.' Lest, how- 
ever, the fact should transpire, and it should be supposed be is under 
obhgations to me for notes which are his own, I think it best to put 
down those notes which I have written. I made it an express con- 
dition, that the notes furnished by me should pass as his own ; and I 
know full well that there is nothing in any of them which he could 
not have prepared with a very little exertion of his own diligence 
and learning." 

Then follows an enumeration of the notes. 



12 MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

To be willing to labor without reward is no uncommon 
trait ; but there are few who thus rise superior to the love of 
fame, and silently allow a friend to wear the honors of patient 
and conscientious research. 

To this period of his life also belongs his impressive charge 
to the grand jury at Portland, in 1821, on the horrors of the 
slave trade. 

In 1820, after the separation of Maine from Massachusetts, 
a convention was called to revise the Constitution of the latter 
State. To this convention — a body remarkable for wisdom, 
ability, and comprehensive patriotism — Judge Story was sent 
as a delegate from the town of Salem. He took a deep interest 
in its proceedings, and an important part in its debates. He 
maintained the all-important principle of the independence of 
the judiciary, in a powerful argument, which was never re- 
ported. The published debates of the convention contain a 
beautiful specimen of his deliberative eloquence, in a speech 
on the basis of the senatorial representation ; in which he 
considered the influence which property has, and should have, 
upon government. 

In 1818, Judge Story was elected a member of the Board 
of Overseers of Harvard College. In January, 1825, he 
delivered before this body an argument against a claim set up 
in a memorial presented by some of the professors and tutors 
of the college, that none but resident instructors were eligible 
as " Fellows " of the corporation. This argument, which was 
confined wholly to the legal merits of the case, is full of curious 
and recondite learning upon a novel question, which had hardly 
ever before been investigated in this country. In the year 
1825, ho was elected a member of the Corporation, and con- 
tinued to hold this oflico until the time of his death, faithfully 
and diligently discharging the duties of this trust. 

In 1829, an important change took place in Judge Story's 
life antl laliors. In the early part of that year, Mr. Nathan 
Dane, of Beverly, — so honorably known, alike as a legislator 



MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 13 

and a jurist, — stated to liim, in a personal interview, that lie 
proposed to bestow ten thousand dollars upon Harvard Col- 
lege, to found a professorship of law, but upon the express 
condition that he should be the first incumbent of the chair. 
Judge Story, who had already declined to accept the Royall 
Professorship of Law at Cambridge, was at first unwilling to 
accede to Mr. Dane's proposition ; but after much reflection, 
finally consented, mainly on the ground that his refusal would 
deprive the college of a useful and honorable foundation, lie 
was accordingly elected, by the Corporation, Dane Professor, 
on the eleventh day of June, and Mr. John Hooker Ashmun, 
of Northampton, — a young man of extraordinary promise in 
the law, cut off before his prime, — was appointed Royall 
Professor. Their inauguration took place Aug. 29, 1829, on 
which occasion Judge Story pronounced a beautiful and appro- 
priate discourse. He left Salem, not without many painful 
regrets, in September, and immediately entered upon the 
duties of his office. From 1817 to 1829, the average annual 
number of students in the Law School had been about eight; 
but the name and reputation of Judge Story exerted an attract- 
ive force unknown before ; and before the close of the first 
year of his professorship, the number of pupils had increased 
to thirty. 

Busily occupied as he now was with his old and new duties, 
he found time to prepare and deliver, in November, 1829, a 
discourse before the Boston Mechanics' Institute, at the open- 
ing of their annual course of lectures, on the Value of the 
Mechanic Arts and the Influence of Science. These themes 
were treated in a manner adapted to a popular audience, and 
enlivened with copious illustrations. 

In December, 1830, a plan having been arranged that the 
professors belonging to the college should deliver a series of 
lectures before an audience composed of their families and 
friends, Judge Story opened the course with a lecture, in 
which he maintained the advantages of a wide and generous 



14 MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

cultivation, ratlier than an exclusive devotion to any single 
study. At the close of the series, he gave a lecture on the 
relation of husband and wife. 

The happy current of Judge Story's life was now to be 
bruken by perhaps the sharpest sorrow of his life. On the 
10th of May, 1831, his youngest daughter, Louisa, — a child 
singularly lovely in person and attractive in character, — died 
of scarlet fever, after a very short illness. The blow was the 
more desolating from its unexpectedness, as his daughter had 
always enjoyed the most blooming and radiant health. The 
writer of this sketch well remembers the overwhelming grief 
of Judge Story under this bereavement, and the wide and deep 
sympathy which it called forth, as well as the resolute energy 
with which he sought relief from torturing recollections in the 
earnest discharge of his official and academic duties. But, 
though he rallied from the shock, he never entirely recovered 
from it. After this loss, the world never was to him quite 
what it was before, and a shade of gentle melancholy hung over 
his brightest hours and purest satisfiictions. The feelings awak- 
ened by this irreparable loss found fitting expression in the 
beautiful discourse delivered by him Sept. 24, 1831, on the 
consecration of the Cemetery at Mount Auburn, which is 
informed with the tenderness and sensibility of a stricken 
mourner, as well as the faith and hope of a submissive Chris- 
tian. More than once, during the delivery of this discourse, 
the tide of recollection was so strong as to ciioke for a moment 
the speaker's utterance ; and the sympathetic emotion of the 
vast audience around him was shown in the profound silence 
of all, and the sutfuscd eyes of not a few. The loss of this 
beloved daugiiter also called from him the most genuine and 
beautiful of iiis poems. 

In the autunni of 1831, the chief-justiceship of the Supreme 
Court of Massachusetts became vacant by the death of Chief- 
Justice Parker, and Judge Story was much pressed to accept 
the vacant ollice, but declined to do so. 



MEMOIR OF JOSErn STORY, LL.D. 15 

In the beginning of tlie year 1832, Judge Story published 
liis " Commentaries on the Law of Baihnents," the first of the 
series of text-books prepared by him wliile incumbent of tho 
professor's chair, and as aids in the teaching of the elementary 
principles of law. No work on the subject had previously 
appeared in English but the Avell-known essay of Sir William 
Jones, which could claim no other rank than that of a beauti- 
ful an<l scholarly outline, without the fulness or the accuracy 
requisite for the practitioner or the student ; and the new 
treatise, received with great favor alike in America and Eng- 
land, was introduced into the Law School as a text-book, to 
the great satisfaction and advantage of the pupils. This work 
was very properly dedicated to Mr. Dane. 

In the early part of 1838, Judge Story published his "CoAi- 
mentaries on the Constitution," in three volumes, which were 
received with great and general favor. A just and compre- 
hensive tribute was paid to this work by the eminent man to 
whom it was so appropriately dedicated, — John Marshall, — 
in a letter of acknowledgment to the author : " 1 have finished 
reading your great work, and Avish it could be read by every 
statesman, and every would-be statesman, in the United States. 
It is a comprehensive and an accurate commentary on our 
Constitution, formed in the spirit of the original text." 

On the fifth day of April, 1833, he pronounced a eulogy, in 
the college chapel, upon his associate in the Law School. 
Professor Ashmun. Though prepared in the short interval 
between the death and the funeral of his young friend, it 
was a discriminating and affectionate sketch of his character 
and powers. 

In the early part of 1834, the "Commentaries on the Conflict 
of Laws" were published. It was the first systematic treatise 
on the subject in the English language ; and its admirable 
method, its copious learning, and the liberal spirit which per- 
vaded it were warmly recognized by professional readers, 
both in England and America. It was reprinted in England, 



16 MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

and soon translated into German and Frencli ; and it was 
received by the jurists and juridical writers of the Continent 
with a welcome wliich was the best proof of the substantial 
merit of the work. 

In August, 1834, Judge Story published in the " Xew-Eng- 
land Magazine" an essay entitled "Statesmen: their Rareness 
and Importance," in the course of which he gives a sketch of 
Mr. Webster's political career. In the same month of August, 
1834, he delivered a lecture before the American Institute of 
Instruction, on *' The Science of Government as a Branch of 
Popular Education," in which he maintained that it was prac- 
ticable and proper to teach the science of government as a 
branch of popular education, and thereby insure such com- 
prfehension of its general principles as to secure intelligent 
legislation. With a view of illustrating and enforcing his own 
doctrines, he subsequently prepared a brief manual, called 
" The Constitutional Class-Book," which was introduced as a 
text-book into many schools. 

On the sixth day of July, 1835, Chief-Justice Marshall died,, 
an " old man and full of years," the object of such reverence 
and gratitude as had been accorded to no man since the death 
of Washington. This was a severe loss to Judge Story, who 
not only felt the highest admiration for the Chief Justice as 
a great lawyer and magistrate, but loved him as a personal 
friend with whom he had long lived on the most affectionate 
and iiitiiiiatc tL-rms. Invited by the members of the Suffolk 
bar to deliver a eulogy upon the Chief Justice, he could not 
decline the request, though it came at a time when he was 
pressed by many and arduous labors. His counnemorative 
discourse was jirdnouninl in Boston, on the iifteenth day of 
October, 1835, before a large and sympathetic audience, and 
was afterwards published. It is a glowing and yet discrim- 
inating sketch of the life and character of Marshall, colored 
with the rich lines of personal feeling; but in its estimate 
of the intellectual iinalities of this ilhistrious magistrate, 



MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 17 

and of the value of bis services, it was no more than an antici- 
pation of the calm, unbiassed judgment of posterity. 

During the year 1835, Judge Story prepared for the 
" Kritische Zeitscbrift" — a periodical published at Heidel- 
berg, under the editorial charge of Professor Mittermaier — 
an elaborate article on the Constitutional and Public Law of 
the United States. And, subsequently, he furnished for the 
" Revue Etrangere," at Paris, an article on the Organization 
and Jurisdiction of National Courts in the United States. 

In the latter part of 1835, Judge Story revised and pub- 
lished a selection from bis miscellaneous writings, which was 
dedicated to Mr. Joaiab Quincy, then President of Harvard 
College. 

In the early part of 1836, the first volume of his " Com- 
mentaries on Equity Jurisprudence " was published, which 
was followed by the second in the summer of the same year. 
This is a work of profound and exact learning ; and, in prac- 
tical value to the profession, has not been surpassed by any 
of Judge Story's legal treatises. He found a peculiar pleasure 
alike in the study and the administration of equity law. Its 
broad and comprehensive principles, which were in unison 
with his own liberal and enlightened views of jurisprudence, 
were expounded by him with a fulness of illustration and a 
depth of research which showed that his mind was working in 
a congenial sphere. His " Commentaries " took a place in the 
literature of the profession which no previous work on the 
same subject had occupied, and from which no subsequent 
rival has removed it. It was dedicated to Mr. William Pres- 
cott, a man eminently worthy of the honor, alike on profes- 
sional and personal grounds. 

During this busy year (1836), Judge Story prepared a 
memorial in behalf of his brother-in-law, Mr. Fettyplace, and 
other claimants, praying indemnification for the seizure of 
the schooner " Reward " by France, under the treaty of Feb. 
2, 1832, between France and the United States, containing an 

3 



18 MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

elaborate argument on several important questions of prize 
law. 

In this same year (183G), Judge Story was appointed by- 
Governor Everett chairman of a board of commissioners, 
under a resolution of the Legislature of Massachusetts, " to 
take into consideration the practicabih'ty and expediency 
of reducing to a written and systematic code the common 
law of Massachusetts, or any part thereof, and to report 
thereon to the next Legislature, subjoining to their report a 
plan or plans of the best method in which such reduction 
can be accomplished." In his capacity of chairman, Judge 
Story drew up an elaborate report, recommending the reduc- 
tion of certain portions of the common law to a written and 
systematic code, in which the principles established by the 
courts should be enunciated with precision. 

In the beginning of the year 1838, Judge Story published 
a treatise on '' Equity Pleadings," a work supplementary to 
the " Commentaries on Equity Jurisprudence," and marked 
by similar merits of thorough research and luminous method. 
It was dedicated to that great lawyer, Jeremiah Mason. 

In the spring of 1839, his " Commentaries on the Law of 
Agency " were published, which met with the same success, 
at home and abroad, as his previous works. The same may 
be said of the " Commentaries on Partnership," which ap- 
peared in the early part of 184:1. In the interval between the 
publications of these treatises, new editions were prepared 
of the works on " Bailments," on '' Equity Pleadings," and 
on the " Conilict of Laws," involving much labor, and com- 
prising extensive additions. 

On the 23d of August, 1842, Judge Story delivered the 
first oration belbre the society of the Alumni of Harvard 
College, an association in which ho folt much interest, and of 
which he was vice-president. His discourse was on the liter- 
ary tendencies and demands of the age. 

In November, 1812, his health gave way under his unre- 



MEMOIR OP JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 19 

mitted labors, and be bad a serious fit of illness. He recov- 
ered very slowly, and be was obb'ged to give up bis usual 
course of judicial duties at Wasbington, and remain at home 
during the winter. This was tiio only session of the Su- 
preme Court wbicli be failed to attend, from the time of bis 
appointment to that of bis death, — a period of thirty-three 
years. 

In the early part of 18-13, bis " Commentaries on Bills of 
Exchange '' were published. This subject bad been treated 
by previous writers in connection with that of Promissory 
Notes; but Judge Story deemed it expedient to discuss the 
law relating to bills of exchange by itself, and in the preface 
gave his reasons at some length for the change. This work 
was dedicated to his associate and friend. Professor Greenleaf. 

In IS-lo, be published the last of his legal treatises, bis 
" Commentaries ou the Law of Promissory Notes " ; which 
was received with the same favor as bis earliest works. 

For some time before bis death, Judge Story bad been 
meditating a resignation of bis seat upon the bench. The 
distaste for locomotion, natural to declining years, was begin- 
ning to steal over him, and each year increased bis disin- 
clination to leave his happy home for a winter journey to 
Washington. He felt, too, that the voice of nature protested 
against the unbroken and exhausting labors which bis judicial 
and professional duties, united, exacted of him, and demanded 
that something should be given up ; and be had determined to 
devote his whole time and energies to the Law School, in 
which he felt an ever-increasing interest, and to the prepara- 
tion of the legal treatises which be bad meditated, but not 
executed. Besides, though bis personal relations with bis 
brethren of the bench were entirely agreeable, Washington 
was no longer to him what it had been in the days of Mar- 
shall. A change had come over the spirit of the Court; and 
the constitutional opinions of that illustrious man, and his 
own, no longer swayed the tribunal. He bad been com- 



20 MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

pelled, in more than one instance, to dissent from the judg- 
ment of the Court, and he felt that in the future the diver- 
gence was more likely to increase than to diminish. From 
this duty of dissent he never shrank ; but opposition and 
disagreement were not congenial to a nature so sympathetic 
as his. 

In the early part of the year 1845, he had come to the 
fixed determination of resigning his judicial position; and he 
left Washington in the spring of that year with a heart 
all the lighter, from the thought that he was to return to it 
no more. Upon coming home, he immediately addressed 
himself to the task of clearing the docket of the Circuit 
Court, so as to leave no legacy of unfinished work to his suc- 
cessor. Many of the cases were intricate and difficult, and 
the arduous labors they required bore heavily upon bis 
strength and vital energies ; though, such was the buoyancy 
of his spirit, it was not perceived at the time. 

The last time he appeared in public was on the third day 
of July, 184G, when a festival was given in celebration of 
the completion of a large addition to the Law Building, 
which the increase of the Law School had made necessary. 
An address was delivered by Mr. Choate on " The Profession 
of the Law as an Element of Conservatism in the State " ; a 
brilliant and striking performance, included in the collection 
of his writings published after his death ; but wanting, as 
read, that indescribable magic of voice and eye which gave 
force to its eloquence and wisdom when heard. After the 
address, the audience dined together in the library of Dane 
Hall. Judge Story made a speech, in which he gave a his- 
tory of the foundation and growth of the Law School, and 
]>iii(l a generous tribute to Mr. Pane. The writer of this 
sketch was present on this occasion, and he well remembers 
Judge Story's high spirits and keen enjoyment of the day. 
lie had never seemed in better health, and his wluilo manner 
betokened the satisfaction with which he looked forward to 



MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 21 

the unbroken pleasures of domestic life and the uninter- 
rupted discharge of the duties of his professor's chair. But 
these fond anticipations of future usefulness and happiness 
were not destined to be realized, and the end of earth was 
near at hand. 

By the beginning of September, he had finished the hear- 
ing of all the cases pending before him, and had drawn up 
judgments in all but one, and that was nearly completed. The 
severe labor which these tasks imposed, and the heat of the 
summer, had greatly exhausted him ; and, while in this pros- 
trated condition, he took a slight cold, which was followed by 
a violent internal stricture, from which he Avas not relieved 
until after many hours of great suffering. But after the dis- 
ease was conquered, his exhausted system did not rally. His 
strength daily declined, in spite of the best medical advice 
and the most careful nursing. On Sunday, September 8, he 
called his wife to his bedside and said to her, " I think it my 
duty to say to you that I have no belief that I can recover ; 
it is vain to hope it: but I shall die content, and Avith a firm 
faith in the goodness of God. We shall meet again." In 
the course of his illness he said, Ihat, but for his state of 
health, his letter of resignation would have been on its way 
to Washington. On Tuesday night, about midnight, a change 
took place, and it was evident that the hand of death was on 
him. Throughout the whole of Wednesday, September 10th, 
the tide of life was slowly ebbing from him. He lay mostly 
without consciousness, and apparently without pain, through- 
out the day ; and at nine o'clock in the evening, his last 
breath was dra\vn. 

The news of his death threw a gloom over the community, 
all the deeper from the fact that none but those who lived in 
his immediate neighborhood were prepared for it. His ill- 
ness had been brief; he had not reached the period of life at 
which death seems a natural event ; and there was something 
startling in the sudden transition from the exuberant activity 



22 MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

he had always shown, to the stillness of the grave. Resolu- 
tions were adopted, and speeches expressive of the highest 
respect and admiration were made at tlie opening of every 
court over which he had presided, and also of the Supreme 
Court at "Washington. Several interesting discourses were 
pronounced from tiie pulpit in honor of iiim. On the 18th 
of September, the sixty-s'xth anniversary of his birtli, a 
beautiful and impressive eulogy upon him was delivered by 
liis colleague. Professor Greenleaf, be Tore the pupils of the 
Law School. In the courts of the United States, in New 
York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Mississippi, 
his death was also appropriately noticed. 

Judge Story was about five feet eight inches in height, 
with rather broad shoulders, and a compact and active figure. 
He was very animated in his movements, and, to the last, 
moved with the quick, elastic step of youth. ITis com- 
plexion was fiiir, his eyes were blue ; and his hair in youth 
was auburn, but in early manhood he became bald. His 
mouth was large and full of expression. Of the many por- 
traits and busts which were taken of him, there is no one 
which reproduces the full charm of his countenance, lighted 
up as it was by the readiest and most beaming of smiles, and 
glowing with kindliness of heart and unaftected sympatliy. 
His manners were simple, unassuming, and cordial. Every 
thing about him — his look of welcome, the warm grasp of his 
hand, iiis hearty and contagious laugh — was expressive of 
a happy temperament, an aflcctionato heart, and a spirit sin- 
gularly sweet and sunny. 

He was a man of large capacity and various faculties; and 
with such intellectual force, such great propelling power, 
that, whatever might have been the s[)here allotted to him, ho 
could hardly have failed to have risen to eminence in it. 
His perceptit)ns were wonderfully quick, but his knowledge 
was as enduring as it was readily acquired. His memory 
was " wax to receive, and marble to retain." And the accu- 



WEMOm OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 23 

racy of his knoAvledge was as remarkable as its extent, though 
this was sometimes questioned by those who did not know 
him well, and took it for granted that a mind so rapid in its 
movements could not bo cither exact or profound. His 
crowning and conspicuous quality was his industry, wherein 
no man within the writer's knowledge ever excelled and very 
few equalled him. Many men will work hard in order to 
secure the prizes of life, wealth, office, or fame; and, when 
these are won, they begin to grow self indulgent, and are con- 
tent to live on their intellectual capital, without adding to its 
stores. Not so Judge Story ; for with him labor was a neces- 
sity of his nature, and he must have ceased to live before he 
ceased to work. Tlie profession of the law, which he chose, 
w'as that which afforded the best scope and sphere to this 
persevering industry ; for of eminence in the law it is not too 
much to say, that three parts out of four are made up of hard 
work. He was mainly, almost exclusively, a lawyer, and pre- 
sented an example of an undeviating devotion to his profes- 
sion more common in England than in our country, where 
professional eminence is apt to prove the stepping-stone to 
the more showy, and, to many natures, the more tempting, 
honors of politics. His love of literature continued through 
life.; and his literary productions, though honorable alike to 
his talents and cultivation, were never regarded by him as 
any thing more than occasional relaxations from the severity 
of his professional and judicial toils, the ^^ solicit ce jucunda 
oblivia vitce." It was as a lawyer and a jurist that he wished to 
be judged, and hoped to be remembered. And the lawyer labors 
under this disadvantage, that the general public can take but 
little part in awarding to him the meed of praise which is his 
due. The orator, the poet, the novelist, the artist, appeal to 
the popular judgment, and by this they must stand or fall. 
But not so with lawyers, nor, as a general rule, with men of 
science. These must be tried by their peers. The place of 
the lawyer is fixed by lawyers, as the place of the mathema- 
tician is fixed by mathematicians. 



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24 MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

That Judge Story was a great lawyer, both in the original 
force of Ills uiIikI and in his prodigious attainments, is what 
no man competent to judge, and free from prejudice, will for 
a moment deny. Judge Prescott, a man careful of his words, 
and nut inclined to overpraise, said of him, in a letter written 
in 1840, '* I believe him the greatest jurist now living in 
eitiier country,'' meaning England and America; and that this 
would nut be deemed too much to claim for him, even in Eng- 
land, may be inferred from the fact that Lord Campbell, in 
the course of a debate in the House of Lords, characterized 
— him as " the first of living writers on the law." If among his 
contemporaries there were some who were not inferior to him 
in grasp of legal principles, in logical power, in accuracy of 
legal perception, there was no one who equalled him in the 
range and depth of his learning. In England, the division of 
legal employments limits the professional attainments of their 
lawyers and judges to a narrower sphere. One man devotes 
himself to equity law and one to common law, and neither 
intrudes upon the province of the other. Take the two 
brothers Lord Stowcll and Lord Eldon, for instance ; the for- 
mer was confined to ecclesiastical and admiralty law, and the 
latter to equity law. But the jurisdiction of the courts of the 
L'nited States compelled Judge Story to range over a far 
wider region of legal investigation than any English judge. 
THe had to hear and determine questions in equity law, in 
commercial law, in admiralty law, in criminal law, in constitu- 
tional law, in the law of copyright, and patent law ; the two 
last being branches of law which the judges of the State 
courts in America are not called upon to examine, except 
occasionally and incidentally. But in all these departments 
Judge Story's learning was profound, accurate, and ready. 
lie was not, like some judges, strong in some points and weak 
in others, but in every part of the law he was upon perfectly 
fiuniliar ground. 'Administering justice in a community 
largely engaged in commerce, ho might be expected to be, as 



MEirOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 25 

he was, thoroughly versed in commercial law : but he was 
equally at home in all the technical and recondite learning of 
real property. He had made himself" master of the uncouth 
lore of " Coke upon Littleton," With every department of 
equity law, the broad and liberal spirit of which was pecul- 
iarly congenial to his taste, he was as familiar as if he had 
been trained a chancery barrister, and sat on the bench as an 
equity judge. With the now obsolete science of special 
pleading ho was perfectly acquainted, and recognized its 
value, alike as a means for expediting the despatch of busi- 
ness, and an excellent instrument for training the logical 
faculty. His opinions on constitutional law have in their 
careful analysis, luminous exposition, and vigorous grasp, no 
rivals save the immortal judgments of Marshall. In knowl- 
edge of admiralty law, alike of its origin, history, and practi- 
cal application, there is no one but Lord Stowell to rival him ; 
and, in learning, at least, the finished judgments of this great 
lawyer and accomplished scholar are not superior to those of 
Story. 

To the important department of patent law, as administered 
and understood in America, Judge Story's contributions were 
more abundant and weighty than those of any other judge, 
or perhaps those of all his brother-judges on the bench during 
his time. The people of New England, as is well known, are 
full of inventive faculty, and most of the labor-saving ma- 
chines and contrivances which have done so much to lighten 
the burden of the primitive curse are of New-England 
origin. Judge Story's circuit embraced four of the six New- 
England States ; and during the whole of his judicial life, 
the dockets of his courts were crowded with patent-cases. 
When he first went upon the bench, the law of patents was 
in a rudimentary and imperfect state. In England, it had 
been a field of contest between the common-law lawyers and 
the equity lawyers ; the former regarding a patent as a 
monopoly, and as such to be strictly construed, and the latter 

4 



20 MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

viewing it with a more liberal spirit. But, in this conflict, 
practical injustice had often been done to inventors, and the 
system of patent law was wanting in symmetry and propor- 
tion. The courts of America, at that time, had contributed 
almost nothing to the science. In the earliest cases that 
were tried before him, the counsel were accustomed to apolo- 
gize for their timid step and cautious movements, on the 
ground that they were traversing an unknown path. Judge 
Story prepared himself for the first patent case that came 
befure him, by a thorough study of every reported case on 
the subject, and he kept pace with the rapid growth of the 
law during his time; and we do not think it is too much to 
claim for him the honor of being the most thorough and able 
patent lawyer that has yet administered the law, whether in 
England or America. Indeed, a good and satisfactory system 
of patent law might almost be compiled from his decisions 
alone. It was a department of the law which he took par- 
ticular pleasure in studying and administering, where his 
quickness of apprehension and discriminating faculty found 
a congenial sphere, and he had a natural aptitude for compre- 
hending mechanical contrivances and inventions. His learn- 
ing and skill were guided by a liberal and generous spirit. 
In his eyes, the inventor was not a grasping monopolist, but 
a benefactor to his kind, whose substantial rights were never 
to bo sacrificed to narrow technicalities ; but were, if pos- 
sible, to be always protected against unauthorized inva- 
sion, though thoy came under the specious guise of seeming 
diflerence. 

Upon the kindred subject of copyright, several important 
questions came before Judge Story during his judicial life; 
and his opinions therein have the same merits of liberal inter- 
pretation and 0([uitable construction as mark his judgments 
in patent cases. 

To understand Judge Story's merits as a lawyer, he must 
be studied in his judgments, as contained in the Reports of 



i 



MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 27 

Gallison, Mason, Sumner, and Story, exclusively devoted to liis 
own circuit, as well as those found in the volumes of Cranch, 
Wheaton, and Fcters, reporters of the Supreme Court of the 
United States. His text-books, admirable as they are, — aiUu- 
ent ill learning, luminous in exposition, and abundant in illus- 
tration, — can hardly claim the same comparative rank as his 
recorded opinions. In these, the powers of his mind found 
exactly the expression that was best adapted and most con- 
genial to them. The opinions of a judge in reported cases 
may be looked at in a twofold aspect: first, Are they correct 
as expositions of the law? and, second, What is their value as 
contributions to the literature of the profession? — and in 
both respects the opinions of Judge Story are of eminent 
worth. No man in America has done more to determine the 
law ; and there is no one whose conclusions have been ac- 
cepted with more general assent by the profession. But a 
judgment upon an issue of law may be correct in point of 
fact, and yet furnish very little help to the future inquirer 
who is pursuing a similar path of investigation. But the 
great excellence of Judge Story's opinions consists in the flood 
of learning which he pours over the subject under considera- 
tion. Many of them may be received as authoritative and 
exhaustive expositions of the law at the time they were pro- 
nounced, making all further or collateral research superfluous. 
Thus to the student wlio is investigating a legal question, and 
not merely seeking the solution of a legal problem, his judg- 
ments have a value hardly equalled by any in the whole range 
of legal literature, whether English or American. This may 
seem a strong statement ; but it is not lightly made, and it 
could not be supported without going into a discussion which 
could be interesting, or indeed intelligible, only to the pro- 
fessional reader. 

As a nisi-prius judge, presiding over jury trials, Judge 
Story was remarkable for the quickness of his perceptions, and 
the uniform courtesy with whicli he treated all who appeared 



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28 WEMOm OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

before him. His mind was always rapid in its movements; and 
few men that have studied so mucli have ever learned so 
quickly as he. Long familiarity with judicial duties had 
enlarged a power always great ; and upon the bench he dis- 
played a quickness of comprehension that was like intuition 
or inspiration. The many questions of evidence and practice 
that came before him were decided without a moment's hesi- 
tation, and on grounds that were sufficient to any man who 
had not given up every tiling to his client, and left nothing for 
the truth. His manners on the bench were the natural ex- 
pression of his sweetness of nature, and they had all the 
charm that belongs to what is true and spontaneous. His 
countenance always wore a winning and benignant look, and 
the longest and dullest case never seemed to throw over it 
the slightest cloud of gloom or irritability. And his courtesy 
was uniform, recognizing no distinction of age or professional 
rank. Indeed, his kindliness of heart inclined him to turn a 
countenance of peculiar favor to the young, the self distrustful, 
and the unsuccessful. When he had occasion to suggest to a 
lawyer some case that he had overlooked, or some principle 
that had escaped him, he did it in a way that left no sting 
behind. He never indulged in sneers or sarcasm, and did not 
allow himself those judicial sallies, which, though they may 
make the by-standers smile, rarely fail to disconcert a sensitive 
advocate, already perhaps overburdened with the care of a 
difficult or hopeless case. 

l>ut there is no judge that escapes criticism. In every 
case that is tried before a jury, one party must lose ; and 
there are few lawyers that are philosophical enough to ascribe 
their defeat to essential defects in their law or their facts, still 
less to their own want of skill or tact. Thus Judge Story was 
sometimes accused of indicating, in his charges to the jury, a 
little too distinctly on which side he thought their verdict 
ought to be. If this were true, — and perhaps the charge is 
not wholly without truth, — it was because of his strong love 



MEMOIR OF JOSEril STORY, LL.D. 29 

of justice, and liis earnestness of temperament; and it is a 
very slight flaw in a judicial reputation of such unrivalled 
brilliancy. 

As a teacher. Judge Story was all that might be expected 
from his knowledge of the law, his love of the law, and his en- 
thusiastic and sympathetic temperament. Every pupil who 
came Avithin the sphere of his influence felt the magnetism of 
his presence. His glowing countenance, his earnest manner, 
his cordial smile, acted with kindling and animating effect 
upon all. Pie was one of those men that never grow old ; and 
thus his perpetual youthfulness of spirit made him, so far as 
sympathy and comprehension went, the contemporary of his 
pupils to the last. He never lost his interest in his work ; the 
hour when he was to meet his classes was welcomed with 
delight; and, when it had closed, he shut up his book and left 
his chair with regret. His long and varied experience at the 
bar and on the bench enabled him to illustrate the propo- 
sitions of the text-book upon which he was lecturing with a 
large number of apposite cases and appropriate anecdotes; and 
he was fond, occasionally, when the opportunity oifered, of giv- 
ing his reminiscences of the great lawyers and advocates who 
had appeared before him. In his lecture-room there was nothing 
of formality or stiffness; every thing was easy and unceremoni- 
ous; the great lawyer and magistrate — too great to require any 
barriers to protect his dignity from a near approach — was 
the most familiar, and even playful, of men. But never was 
there for a moment, on the part of the young men who sat 
under his instructions, the slightest expression of disrespect. 
Never was the relation between them forgotten. His pupils 
felt for him a peculiar mixture of veneration, gratitude, and 
love. He became the personal friend of all who showed a 
right to his friendship by their talents, industry, and worth. 
In them he never lost his interest, and their fate and fortunes 
were followed by him to the last with an almost paternal 
feeling. 



30 MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

The character of Judge Story as a man, what lie was in the 
private and domestic relations of life, may easily be inferred 
from what has l)een before said. His marked traits were 
warmth and kindness of heart, quickness of sympathy, a 
freshness of feeling enduring to the last, an entire absence of 
self-assertion, a frank, open, unsuspicious temper, and a sweet- 
ness of nature, which nothing could change. As a son, brother, 
husband, father, and friend, he was all that duty could com- 
mand or aflection inspire. He never lost a friend but by 
death ; and no man was more mindful of Dr. Johnson's injunc- 
tion to keep his friendships in repair. His latest friends were 
the children of those who started in life with him. Few men 
were ever more loved or more mourned than he. His judg- 
ments of men were kindly and charitable ; malice and bitter- 
ness were unknown to him ; he not only never indulged in 
evil-speaking, but discouraged the practice in all, and reproved 
it in those whom he had a right to reprove. There was a 
peculiar charm in his presence, from his vivacity of feeling, 
his quick sympathy, and that youthfulness of heart which he 
kept to the last. There was nothing of torpor, languor, or 
ajiathy, either in his temperament or his manners. Much 
study was never a weariness to his spirit. After a long day 
of severe toil, joining the domestic circle, he would seem the 
gayest and youngest of the party, whoever might be present. 
lie was very fond of societ}', though too busy to indulge him- 
self in it often. He was entirely independent of those amuse- 
ments in which most men of laborious lives find a grateful, if 
not a necessary, relief from the burden of habitual toil. Ho 
cared nothing for farming or gardening; he probably never 
had a gun or a fishing-rod in his hands; he never played 
cards, or rode on horseback, or ovlmi took a walk for exercise. 
Occasionally, though very rarely, the presence of a great per- 
former tempted him to the theatre. He was fond of listening 
to music if it came in his wav ; but he did not care enoU}z:li 
about it to go alter it. There was no pleasure he enjoyed so 



MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 31 

much as conversation, and it was his only relaxation. He was 
} sometimes accused of taking more than his fair share of the 

"» discourse in mixed society; but this was a charge never 

( brought against him by his pupils, who were always happy to 

', be listeners in his presence. 

) To the honors of general scholarship Judge Story made no 

i claim. His attainments in literature were mostly confined to 

\ his own language, and in this they were more than respect- 
able. In his youtli, he had made himself well acquainted with 
the standard writers of England ; and he found time to read 
the popular authors that rose to distinction in his own day, 
from Byron and Scott to Dickens. Among the modern poets, 
his favorite was Crabbe. 

His style — formed at a time when the poetry of Darwin was 
admired, and the prose of Junius was thought the perfection 
of English — was always somewhat wanting in simplicity and 
compactness, though flowing, persuasive, and sometimes elo- 
quent. His literary productions, it should be remembered, 
were always written rapidly, to meet a particular occasion, 
and in moments stolen from professional toil. 
'\ The life and character of Judge Story had the crowning 

j grace of a strong and practical religious faith. He had a firm 
j belief in the divine origin of Christianity, the result of reflec- 
j tion and inquiry ; and he often expressed a purpose of writing 
/^ a work in which the rules of legal evidence should be applied 
to the facts of the gospel narratives, and the question of their 
truth argued like a case in a court of justice. The joys and 
sorrows of his life were received by him as alike expressicms 
of tlie will of God. He was submissive under trial, and deeply 
grateful for the blessings which had fallen to his lot. His life 
had been eminently successful, and, with the exception of tlie 
loss of so many children, it had been eminently happy. He 
I has more than once said to the writer of this sketch, that the 
honors he had earned and the position he had won were far 
above the fondest dreams of his youth. His gratitude to God 



1 

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32 MEMOIR OF JOSEPH STORY, LL.D. 

was a strong personal feeling, like that of an affectionate cliilJ 
to a wise and loving father. He had, in a large measure, the 
Christian virtue of humility. No man ever assumed less or 
claimed less for himself than he. A man's character is never 
fully gauged till we know wliat he was to his inferiors, — his 
children, his servants, and his dependants. No man would have 
borne this test better than Judge Story; for he was best loved 
by those who stood the nearest to him and saw the most of 
him. lie was kind to all and courteous to all, simply because 
kindness and courtesy were a part of his nature, and never 
had to be put on. In his declining years, his conversation 
and society had peculiar attractions for the young; and the 
main reason of this vras, that he never claimed any superiority 
over them, either by reason of age or liigh place. lie mingled 
with them as an equal, symi)athized with them as an equal ; 
so tliat the shy and sensitive student who went into his presence 
with fear and trembling, became his trusting friend, and often 
opened to him the most secret chambers of his heart. His 
influence over the young was always for good. He spurred r 
the indolent, encouraged the desponding, and confirmed the |i 
irresolute. I 

Alike by precept and example, he discouraged harsh judg- 
ments, evil-speaking, and the spirit of strife. He was very i 
fond of enforcing and dilating upon the truth, that no man ever 
stands in another man's way. The world, he said, was wide 
enough for all ; and, if any one lacked advancement, it Avas his 
own misfortune or his own fault, and not the fault of any one 
else. 



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